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Show BIGonpScahal ' I Contract for Feeding and Hous- H ing Employees Let to H Omaha Firm. N IS SAID TO INVOLVE AT H I LEAST FIFTY MILLIONS H j Contesting Bidders Protest H Against Manner of Mak- H j ing the Award. H NEW YORK. Sept. S.-Chairman Shonts jH j of the Panama Canal commission an-j an-j r.ounccd today that he had awarded a concession for feeding and housing the I greater part of tho canal employees to J. E. Mnrkel of Omaha, Following a month's visit to Panama Mr. Markcl hao I worked out a comprehensive scheme, which includes thc early establishment I of ten big hotels along the canal and rail-1 rail-1 road, each of them to accommodate from 150 to 250 lodgers and twice as manv din- fl Hotels for Botter Class. These hotels. It Is declared, wilt comparo favorably with the better class 1 of commercial hotels In this country and v. HI be used chiefly by tho higher sal-aried sal-aried employees. The average rate for I board and lodgings will be about 535 a month. For tho laborers employed In the canal, or in any way idcntllled with that pro-Ject pro-Ject thc concessionaire will at first cs- I tabllsh twenty commissary camps anil I later 100 additional ones, each with a 1 kitchen nnd dlninir-room. Camps for Laborers. Laborers will have the privilege of buy-ing buy-ing their food cooked or uncooked nt these camps, and in either case will be furnished with the necessary table ap- polntmcnts. The average rate to labor-era labor-era for cooked food will bo about 511 a month. Part of thc contract provides for trans-portatlon trans-portatlon at cost of all food supplied and materials used by tho concessionaire. B Dally Supply Train. IH It Is the intention of thc concessionaire to run a train across the isthmus every' . day from Colon, supplying thc proposed BHV hotels and camps with fresh meats, fruits, JBl vegetables, bread and laundry; also dally supplies of ice. The amount Involved ln the contract. which covers a porlod of five years and will become operative as soon ns Mr. Mar-kel Mar-kel concludes certain preliminaries. Is 'not disclosed, but 111113 into millions of dol- Other Bidders Protest H. Balfo & Co.. and Hudglns & Dumas, both linns of this city, who were thc only other bidders for the Panama concession, IflflVJ today sent telegrams and letters to Pros- IH Ident Roosevelt at Oyster Bay protesting lH against tho awarding of thc contract to IH J. E. Mnrkel. At tho same time thc two firms addressed letters to Chairman Shonts withdrawing their bids, ln thc be-lief be-lief that this action might invalidate an award to Mr. Mnrkel by leaving only ono bidder in tho Held. In a statement given out toduy tho protesting firms declare tho Panama contract involves no less than Bids "Were Too Low. Hudglns & Dumas assert that after presenting their bid they received a let- BAVJ tcr from Mr. Shonts in which ho lnti-mated lnti-mated that their figures wcro too low and set forth a number of conditions which were not mentioned In the draft of thc proposed contract on which tho bids were based. Hudglns & Dumas declare that they re-cclvetl re-cclvetl this Information about half-past 3 IHH o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, and wero told by Mr Shonts's secretary that his principal required an answer by 4!. o'clock. jH Deducting the tlmo consumed In type- writing, they assert they had only ten minutes to revlso their bids. Shonts Denios Charges. Mr. Shonts, ln an intcrvlow tonight, dc-clared dc-clared tho charges baseless and absurd. iH |
